Garhwal Post Bureau
Dehradun, 18 Feb: The Special Task Force (STF) has exposed a major racket involving the manufacture and sale of counterfeit medicines in Uttarakhand. In a coordinated operation, the STF team arrested three accused persons from Roorkee and Deoband for allegedly manufacturing and marketing fake medicines of reputed pharmaceutical companies. With these latest arrests, the total number of accused apprehended in the case has risen to 16.
It may be recalled that, on 1 June 2025, Santosh Kumar was arrested in possession of counterfeit wrappers, outer boxes, labels and QR codes of reputed medicine companies. Following the arrest of Santosh Kumar, a case was registered at Selaqui Police Station in Dehradun district. Subsequently, the investigation was transferred from Selaqui Police Station to the STF in view of the organised nature and wider ramifications of the offence.
During the course of investigation, it emerged that Naveen Bansal alias Akshay, a resident of Bhiwadi in Rajasthan, who had already been arrested earlier, had procured counterfeit medicines of branded companies from Naresh Dhiman, Lokesh Gulati and Mohtaram Ali and supplied them in the market. The role of the accused indicated an organised criminal network engaged in the large-scale production and distribution of fake pharmaceutical products. Acting on credible inputs, the STF conducted raids at the residences of Naresh Dhiman, Lokesh Gulati and Mohtaram Ali in Roorkee and Deoband and took them into custody.
In earlier recoveries linked to the case, the STF had seized 263 kilogrammes of paracetamol, 2,490 kilogrammes of zinc powder, 5,000 tablets labelled as Paracetamol and 16,200 tablets marked as Oxalgin-DP. Samples of the medicines, raw materials and packing materials were sent for examination to the Uttarakhand State Laboratory. The laboratory analysis confirmed that all the seized medicines and related manufacturing materials were counterfeit.
SSP, STF, Ajai Singh shared that a detailed profile of the gang involved in manufacturing and selling fake medicines is being prepared and stringent action is being taken against all those connected with the organised crime. He confirmed that three more members have been arrested on the day of the latest operation. He further informed that another case related to counterfeit medicines has also been registered against Lokesh Gulati at Gangnahar Police Station in Haridwar district. Information is being gathered from other States as well to ascertain the broader network and possible inter-State links of the racket.
The STF has intensified its investigation to trace the entire supply chain and identify additional accomplices involved in the illegal trade of spurious medicines, which poses a serious threat to public health.
